Erom 2 K 17" we learn that the inhabitants wen^ ileported to Eastern localities in or near li.ibylonia (see Schrader, COT ii. p. 2G7 tl. ), while Babylonian inhabitants were settled in the dis- tricts of Canaan vacated by the e.xilcd Israelites (v.^). Illustrative passages conlirniing these facts may be found in the annals of Sargon.
And so the curtain falls upon the remarkable and chequered history of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes. Respecting king Hoshea, we do not know w hether he survived the tragic close of the king- dom which he ruled, or sullored the barbarous tortures too frequently inllicted on Assyrian cap- tives. About his ]H!rsonal character we know little. We may infer that it lacked decisive energy and lofty patriotism. Beginning his reign as a mere puppet in Assyria's hands, lie shaped his career as an ojiportunist. He was too astute to otlend any national susceptibilities by abandon- ing the worship of J", too cautious and politic to Flay the rOle of a purist in religious pr.actices. nileed an accurate historic treatment of Israel's religious history may esteem it highly improb- able that such a cour.se, forestalling the reforma- tion of the 7th cent., could ever have entered into Hoshea's thoughts. Whether amid the syncretic tendencies in the traditional religious practices which then prevailed he was at ail intluenced by the teachings of the contemporary Epliraimite pro- phet Hosea towards hi^jher ideals, is a question suggested, but suggested only, by the clause (17"), that though he committed evil it wius not ' as the kings of Israel who were before him.' The im- partial historian will not judge this last king of Ephraim too severely, but will unli&sitatingly admit that he live<l in times of direst ditliculty and peril, when nothing but miraculous divinely guided statesmanship, like that of Isaiah, could nave sjived the realm from overwhelming disaster. OWKN C. Wi11TK110U.sk.
HOSPITALITY, HOST.— No customs have taken a dcejfcr and muri' permanent hold on the mind and life of the Orient than those which gather rcmnd the reception and entertainment of the guest. Eew legal enactment-s, by whatever sanc- tions enforced, have met with such hearty and universal obedience as the unwritten laws of hospitality. The main practices evidently ori(^n-
ated amid nomadic conditions. When ap] lied to the more settled order of village or town, they were of neccs.sily more or le.ss modified. In modern times the intluence of the touri.st, and the gro« ing usages of the West, have done much to corrupt the eld simplicities. Yet in many towns and villages, remote from the annual streams of sight- seers and pilgrims, and the encroachments of civilization, the traveller will find hospitable and generous welcome, and an aversion to anything like payment. Even in .such centres as Safed and Tiberias, one or two wealthy men keep open house for all-comers, where friend and foe are alike free to enjoy food and shelter for the night. In the villages, w here poverty reigns supreme, a guest- chamber, usually the best room in the place, is often attached to the sheikh's dwelling ; and there the stranger is provided for at the cost of the com- munity. The desert Arabs, however, have pre- served almost unchanged through four millenniums the customs [iresented in the scriptural pictures of patriarchal life.
Among the nations of antiquity the virtue of hospitality was highly esteemea. In the Egvptian Hook of the Dead, in the Hall of two Trutfis, the god who tests the spirits thus speaks in com- mendation of one who has passed the judgment : ' The god has welcomed him as he wished. He has given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked.' The Greeks tliou''lit that any stranger.guest might be a god in disguise ; and the hospitable entertainment of helpless strangers, not selt- declared enemies or robbers, was well- plea,sing to Zeiis f^nos, under whose protection they were. The ties established by hospitality were hereditary on both sides. The Komans regarded any violation of the rights of hospitality as a crime and impiety ; while the Sibylline books de- clared that the age of the Messiah, when the happiest conditions for humanity would be realized, should witness the triumph of faith, love, and hosiiitality.
Turning to the Arabs, among whom are best reflected the immemorial us.a^es of the East, we find that among them a man's hospitality is largely the measure of his reputation. ' A close list and a narrow heart,' they say ; and the nigrardlv soul shall not hold rule over tliem. To be descri^ietl as 'a man of much ashes,' is a coveted distinction ; the heap of ashes by his tent indicating the extent of his cooking for the entertainment of guests. ' A man whose dogs bark loudly ' is one held in esteem ; the dogs guiding the wanderer who might not otherwi.se lind his dwelling. The sheikh's tent always stands in the camp nearest the travelled way, to oiler first welcome to the ap|)roaching stranger. His superior position must be vindicated by superior liberality. Ibn Ka-shid, in Hftyil, w ho exercises a somewhat uncertain sway over the wandering tribes of central Arabia, entertains at least 200 guests daily ; and every stranger in Il.lyil is invited to his table. The name of this ruler is accordingly highly honoured. Hut the poorest man will not turn the needy away. The guest, indeed, is often regarded as a lienefactor, who.se arrival atVords hia host the opportunity of honourable service.